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Smarter than Tyler Florence and cuter than Mario Batali, the thinking foodie's older man crush — Anthony Bourdain — chatted with a sold out audience at the Paramount last Saturday. At once charming and challenging, cynical and optimistic about the state of food and travel, the audience was walked through "The World According to Tony Bourdain" for an hour an a half - and he didn't disappoint.
Bourdain on stage is no different than his television persona. If you've been even an infrequent viewer of his seven years of television for the Food Network and the Travel Channel, you know him. He's three chord rock, quick to laugh, and a lover of all things decadent. He's a one man food cult, hunting real-deal food experiences in the most unlikely places. He's the cool black sheep uncle who taught you to it's okay to like things like literature and food and local beverages. (It's easy to see why Austin welcomed him with hoots - not to mention requests for after-show celebrations with our own local beverages.)
Photo from Anthony Bourdain's official website.
Peppering it with his trademark one-liners and sneering celebrity chef derision, Bourdain glided through his talk, addressing how he came to write Kitchen Confidential and how he makes his television shows. The Austin show was actually the kickoff night for his tour, complete with Nightline cameras sharing the Paramount stage, ostensibly for an ABC Bourdain profile. The audience, which seemed to comprise chefs, Bourdain adherents and casual observers, roared with laughter, clapped with approval at Bourdain's tossed-off sarcasm, and yelled out both questions and requests. We're pretty sure the Paramount doesn't get this rowdy for a Tuna Christmas or a David Sedaris reading.
Next he started in on his salvo about all things food and travel. It's clear that his philosophical bent drives his application of food culture to the things he cares about, such as fostering curiosity about the world, eating really, really well on animal bits that require preparation techniques which were refined over centuries, and ranting about his viewpoint that vegetarians are rude (which preceded the quick exit of a good two handfuls of people.) In organic-minded, veggie-centric Austin, it may have been a bit of glancing blow for some. Everyone else seemed used to this flavor of rhetoric from Bourdain, who also ticked off shows he likes to watch: Top Chef (which he is such a fan of he participated this season in the judging without much in the way of compensation, check out his incredibly funny BravoTV blog), Iron Chef America, and Kitchen Nightmares. He gave props to Mario Batali's Babbo, French Laundry chef Thomas Keller, and the $800-per-person Manhattan sushi bar, Masa.
Here are some of the things we learned from Anthony Bourdain:
▪ In the heart of any good cook is a Chinese guy.
▪ The engine of gastronomy is tough times.
▪ Coq au vin is an old, tough bird you have to drown in wine to get it to taste good. That'll be $28.95 please.
▪ The part of France where all the good snails come from is Taiwan.
▪ A good meal is communication.
▪ Rachel Ray's Dunkin Donuts deal is evil.
▪ Countries fought wars over spices because their food stank.
▪ Bacon is the gateway protein.
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It was a great event! I have the hugest man crush on Anthony Bordain.
Let's not forget my favorite line of the night though.
"Watching the food network is like watching pornography. You enjoy watching it but it isn't likely that you will be trying to do that stuff anytime soon."
Man, I SO love Anthony Bourdain. ~sigh~ The thinking foodie's older man crush indeed!
He has no integrity. Have you read his book "kitchen confidential"? His disdain for superficial culinary faux celebrity (all things food network!) was admirable. Of course this all changed once he also cashed in and sold out. Sorry he cant have it both ways.